Human Shield: Part 1
by whynotzoidberg
Summary: After enduring constant attacks from Reavers, Abira decides to leave home. On her journey through the 'verse she encounters the cruelty of the Alliance as well as the warmth of Serenity.


A.N. : This is my first fan fiction and it is not completely accurate in its portrayal of the Firefly universe. I used some creative license.

The first time I met the Reavers was when I was very young. The siren went off and I heard someone whisper under their breath.

"Reavers."

I couldn't tell if that was a sign to hide or to attack. Mother quickly ran to the kitchen, her feet slipping on the dirt floor. She pulled a bag of pills out of one drawer and a few biscuits out of another. She began to stuff pills into the biscuits and handed one to me.

"If they get you, eat this," she commanded softly. I gripped the bread tightly in my fist. Suddenly, a brief and stinking wind rushed into the house. A ship had landed nearby.

The Reavers' ship was covered in blood and burnt bones. Creatures that ran like humans but were not human burst out of it. Their faces were mutilated and blackened with infection. I would later find out that it was self-mutilation due to extreme rage. On their bodies were clothes sown out of rotting human flesh. They screamed and moaned as they ran, dragging huge bloody weapons behind them.

"Remember to eat it. If they catch you, they won't kill you. You have to eat it," my mother continued. She then hurried us to the basement where we hid. I could hear the screaming. One in particular caught my attention. It was Mary.

Mary was our neighbor and she was very kind. Her husband worked out on a cargo ship, so she often visited us when she was lonely. I could hear her screaming for mercy and for someone to please kill her, please kill her.

I covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut. Later I would find out that they probably ate her alive and wore her skin as clothes. I would find out that her scorched remains were probably tied to the ship as it was painted with her blood. But that would be later, at the time I didn't want to know what was happening to her. My mother held my head close to her.

We could feel the Reavers above our heads, searching for food. At that point, I almost ate the biscuit. I almost didn't care if they never found us and I died for no reason. I knew that when I went back up I would find nothing. I found find nothing but the lucky ones who committed suicide. I would find the ones who couldn't be brought aboard. But what I feared most was discovering who was missing.

But as the Reavers, who weren't incredibly meticulous creatures, left the house, I brought the bread down from my mouth. I would live another day. And it was then that I realized that I couldn't stay there anymore. I had to leave. Because I knew the Reavers would be back and they would kill me if I didn't.

So I left my mother and her biscuits at home and headed out for the docks when I was eighteen. The Reavers had come and gone throughout the years in between but we were always safe. I think my mother might have shot herself after I left, but that was all for the better I guess.

At the docks I boarded an Alliance recruit vessel and was brought to a large Alliance cruiser. I spent my time researching Reavers and eventually became the resident Reaver expert. But when I turned twenty I was offered a different job. It was an experiment that was supposed to revolutionize the Alliance and their troops.

I accepted.

It turns out the experiment was highly dangerous and possibly fatal. I was introduced to several other candidates, all with jobs similar to mine, ones that could be easily replaced. We were brought to a large facility off the cruiser and sent into different rooms. I never saw the other candidates again.

What happened next was excruciatingly painful and I can really only remember snippets of it because of the anesthesia. Huge pieces of my skin were removed and replaced with wiring and sheet metal. Organs were exchanged with circuit boards. I watched as one by one, corpses were towed away on stretchers. The experiment was ultimately a failure. Except for me. I was the only survivor. But because of the excessive failures the project was dumped and I was abandoned. They never expected me to live.

I was dropped off on a small desert planet on the outskirts of the galaxy. With nowhere to go and nothing to do I sat at the old rotting port and waited. After about a week, I was beginning to deteriorate. It must have been Friday when a flicker of light shined in the sky above me. It was a ship. I zoomed in with my new robotic eye, it was a Firefly class ship and it was heading straight for me.


End file.
